Gun mount



April 18, 1944. v u 2,346,692

GUN MOUNT Filed Nov. 29, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ii'iii lii ggii INVENTOR Victor F. Lucht BY y/( ATTO NEYS Patented Apr. 18, 1944 UNITED STATES;

. GUN MOUNT Victor F. Lucht, Washington, D. C. Application November '29, 1940, Serial No. 367,767

(Granted under the act of March 8, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757

7 Claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a gun mount.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a mount particularly applicable to rapid fire guns in which a recoiling cradle or sleigh carrying the rigid frame of the gun is associated with a simple and compact recoil and counterrecoil mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a. mounting which may be conveniently used in the wings of an airplane or other restricted space.

A still further object is to employ an elastic material such as rubber, capable of operating through a short recoil stroke.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will clearly appear from a description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the gun mount, with certain parts in section, the section being on the line Il of Fig. 4;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with certain parts omitted to more clearly illustrate 'the sleigh;

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are sectional views on the cor-' responding lines of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6--'c of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a detail view in side elevation of the front end of the sleigh before application of the gun-retaining plate;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the front portion of the inner member.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference there is'shown a support A which in the present instance is arranged to be placed in a vertical position for attachment to a suitable base (not shown). A bracket 6 on the rear end of the support is formed with an upper tubular guide I and a lower tubular guide 8. A similar bracket 9 on the front end of the support is formed with an upper tubular guide It! and a lower tubular guide I l, the guides being arranged for attachment of a short fluid brake cylinder (not shown).

The central portion of the support is formed with an upper bracket l2 having an ofiset providing a seat l3 and a. side rail l4 and a lower bracket l5 having an offset providing a seat It and a side rail 11. An upper bearing unit B is of each side 23 is formed ATENT OFFICE supported on the seat 13 and a lower bearing unit C is supported on the seat It and both units are retained in any suitable manner, conveniently by screws l8.

The bearing units B and C are identical and may be of any configuration in cross-section. For the purpose of illustration they are in the form of rectangular casings comprising generally a metallic outer member, a metallic inner member and an interposed member of a resilient, elastic material such'as rubber. While the outer member may be formed of one piece it is for convenience made of several parts, specifically, a pair of side plates l9--l9 and a pair of cover plates 2020 secured to the side plates by screws 2 I. The inner member consists of a tube 22 having parallel sides 23 substantially coextensive in height with the side plates [9. The front end with a laterally projecting flange 24.

The interposed resilient member comprises a pair of rubber blocks 25-25, each block being secured, as by vulcanization, to one side plate I9 and the corresponding side 23 of the inner member. The blocks are preferably rhomboidal in shape with their front inner corners in advanced position against the flanges 24 whereby the blocks are placed under'a combination of shear and compression forces as the gun sleigh D moves to the rear. Placing the front inner corner of the rhomboidal block in advanced position assures a combination of shear and compression forces in the preferred embodiment of my invention but it is understood that blocks 25-25 may be square and in that instance the blocks 25-25 would be subjected to substantially shear forces only as the gun sleigh moves to the rear.

A sleigh D constituting a recoiling and counterrecoiling element is shown in Fig. 2 and comprises a front cross-head 26 and a rear crosshead 21 connected by bars 28-28. The front cross-head is formed at its upper and lower sides with apertured ears 2'929 each of which receives a guide rod 3!) while the rear-cross-head has apertured ears 3I-3l for receiving the guide rods. A collar 32 on each guide rod is adapted to engage the front face of the corresponding tube 22. A sleeve 33 on each rod is confined between the rear face of the tube 22 and a corresponding rear ear 3|. The assembly is maintained by a nut 34 threaded on the rod and brought up against the rear face of the ear 3|. A bushing 35 on the rod is held against nut 34 by a nut 36 and slides in one of the tubular guides 7 -8 of the bracket 6. The front end of each rod in one of the guides It or H is associated with a fluid brake (not shown).

A gun E is fastened to the sleigh, the specific means comprising a rear attachment by means of screw bolts 31 which are threaded in a plate 38 forming part of the gun and a front retainer plate 39 which is held to the sleigh by screw bolts 48 and has opposed grooves ll- 5! for receiving flanges 42-42 on the gun.

When the gun is fired, the gun and the sleigh to which it is attached, move in recoil a short distance, for example three-fourths of an inch. This movement is checked solely by the rubber blocks which are placed in a state of stress and in returning to normal state provides the sole means for restoring the gun into battery.

While the bearing unit has been illustrated as being rectangular, it is to be understood that it may be cylindrical or of any angular shape so long as the recoil and restoring forces are applied directly and the resilient material is placed under a combination of substantially only shear and compression or shear forces as the gun sleigh D moves to the rear under recoil. While the slidable sleigh has been illustrated as engaging the inner member of the bearing units it is apparent that it could engage the outer member when the inner member is fixed.

I claim:

1. In a gun mount, a support having guides, spaced bearing units carried by the support, each unit comprising a pair of spaced plates, a tubular member between the spaced plates and having sides parallel therewith, a rhomboidal block of elastic material between each plate and the side of the tubular member and fixed thereto, said block arranged with an inner corner in advanced position against the tubular member, a slidable sleigh, a gun fixed to the sleigh, said sleigh in cluding rods passing through the tubular mem-" bers and engaging its ends, said block furnishing the sole means for checking gun recoil and for restoring the gun to battery position, and said support guides being adapted to receive said rods 2. In a gun mount, a support having guides, spaced bearing units carried by the support, each unit comprising a pair of spaced plates, a tubular member between the spaced plates, a block of elastic material between each plate and the tubular member and fixed thereto, a slidable sleigh, a gun fixed to the sleigh, said sleigh including rods passing through the tubular members and engaging its ends, said support guides being adapted to receive said rods and disposed .coaxially With the tubular member, and said elastic material providing the sole means for absorbing the gun recoil forces and the sole means for returning the gun to battery position.

3. In a gun mount, a support having guides,

spaced bearing units carried by the support, each unit comprising: an outer member, an inner member, and a rhomboidal rubber block arranged to be subjected to compression and shear forces only between the outer and inner members; a sleigh, a gun fixed to the sleigh, said sleigh including guide rods, each rod slidable in the guides of the support and passing through the center of the inner member of a bearing unit, means for fastening said rod to the inner member with the rod and corresponding bearing unit coaxial, said rhomboidal rubber block furnishing the sole means for absorbing the gun recoil energy and for restoring the gun to battery position.

4. In a gun mount, a support, spaced bearing units carried by the support, each unit comprising: an outer member, an inner member and an inteiposed elastic material element, said elastic material element being subjected to shear and compression forces only during recoil and counterrecoil; a reciprocable sleigh having gun-attaching means, a gun, said gun attaching means being fixed to the inner members of the bearing units, said elastic material element providing the solemeans for checking the gun recoil and for restoring the gun t'o' battery position,

5. In a gun mount, a support having longitudinally spaced guides, a pair of transversely spaced bearing units carried by the support intermediate the guides and coaxial therewith, each bearing unit including a rhomboidal block adapted to be subjected to shear and compression forces only, a slidable sleigh having gun-attaching means, a gun, said gun attaching means including guide rods, each rod slidable in guides of the support and having means for subjecting the rubber block to shear and compression forces only during gun recoil, said rubber block furnishing the sole means for checking gun recoil and for restoring the gun to battery position.

6. In a gun mount, a support having guides, spaced bearing units carried by the support, each unit comprising: a pairof outer members, a tubular inner member between the outer members, and a block of elastic material between each outer member and the tubular inner member and fixed thereto; a slidable sleigh having rods fastened to the inner tubular member, a gun, fixed to the sleigh, said rod passing through a support guide, said guide and inner tubular member being disposed coaxially, and said elastic block providing the sole means for checking gun recoil and for restoring the gun to battery position.

7. In a gun mount, a gun sleigh, a rod carried by the sleigh, a gun fixed to said sleigh, asupport having a bearing unit comprising: an outer member, an inner tubular member, and rubber blocks interposed between the inner and outer members, said blocks being subjected to compression and shear forces only during recoil and counterrecoil; a tubular guide on the support, said rod passing through the tubular member and the tubular guide, means for fastening the rod to the inner tubular member, said rubber blocks providing the sole means for checking gun recoil and for restoring the gun to battery position.

ICTORv F. LUCHT, 

